Consider this a dare for long-term couples who are fans of horror films: Get comfortable with your loved one and view Together. This 2025 indie hit recently had its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. Outwardly, it could look like conventional biological terror, but beneath Together resides a profound examination about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Debut Feature Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together marks the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for over ten years. Married in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a special spark to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The narrative begins when Millie and Tim relocate from the urban environment to the country for Millie’s job. A familiar plot device, sure, but that’s primarily where the tropes conclude. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists fall into an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a strange force takes hold of the duo. This force creates a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a methodically building fright fest, interspersing moments of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes during something horrific). The director skillfully blends these components seamlessly and wraps them up in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is solely the two lead actors, and they deftly portray countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and distant from his network of friends. He dreads the idea of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in Millie. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie never makes one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
The couple grapple with the kind of problems that come with long-term unions over a long period. Deep down, they have affection for each other. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these concerns of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the allegory does not come across as hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama serve the other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have interpreted the film as a powerful case for staying single. Meanwhile, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film actually helped them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your partner and utter, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can undertake today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform at present.
